Railroad tie plate



June 14-, R FARlEs RAILROAD TIE PLATE Filed March 51f 1931 -2Sheets-Sheet l INVENT'OR: Eofierz'f Tamas,

BY M

- I ATTORNEYS.

' ITNESSES June 14, 1932. R. FARIES RAILROAD TIE PLATE Filed March 31,1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 t IN VEI\{ TOR.- Boberi farz'es TTORNEYS.

Patented June 14, 1932 ROBERT FAR-IE8, OF ST. DAVI DS, PENNSYLVANIARAILROAD TIE PLATE Application f led March 31, 1931. Serial No. 526,650.

This invention relates to tie plates used in railways to directlysupport the track rails on the ties.

The customary practice heretofore has been to secure the rail supporttie plates by spikes driven down through corner apertures in them intothe ties. Due to the lateral thrust communicated to the rails bypassingtrains, the spikes would become loose after a time and thus permit thetie plates to creep and the rails to spread. This has ordinarily beencorrected by extracting the spikes, plugging the holes in the ties, and,after re-settin of the rails and the plates, re-driving the spi es.Repetition of this operation however, soon resulted in what are known asspike-killed ties which had to be re-placed at a considerable outlay formaterial as well as for labor which materially affected the costs ofroad maintenance.

My invention has for its primary object to overcome the variousdrawbacks of previous practice to which attention is directed above,through embodiment in the tie plates, of provisions, which, inconjunction with securing means adapted to engage the tie atpre-allocated points, will positively preclude creeping of the plates,and which,

on the other hand, will admit of being readily removed and restored toenable replacements to be made or for other reasons, without in any wayentailing injury to the ties.

A further aim of my invention is to provide means operative toautomatically draw 1 the tie plates firmly into contact with the topfaces of the ties incident to drawing up of the securing means therefor.

Other advantages, inherent to this invention will be manifest from thefollowing de- 0 tailed description in coordination with the attacheddrawings, wherein Fig. I is a fragmentary plan view of a railroad trackshowing one of the rails, and a tie plate convenr, iently embodying thepresent improvements.

Fig. II is a cross section taken as indicated by the arrows IIII in Fig.I.

Fig. III is a detail sectional view taken as indicated by the arrowsIIIIII in Figs. I and II.

Figs. IV and V are illustrations corresponding to Figs. I and II showingan alternative embodiment of my invention.

In Figs. I-III of these drawings, my improved tie plate iscomprehensively designated by the numeral 10, the same having thecustomary rectangular configuration, it being however preferably made ofthe same width throughout as the tie indicated at 11, instead ofnarrower as ordinarily. The tie plate 10 provides a central supportingsurface 12 for so the track rail 13, as well as transverse retainingridges 141 to engage the edges of the base flange 15 of the rail.

At or near its corners,

the tie plate 10 is formed with depending projections or lugs 16 whichare adapted to lap 5 the sides of the tie 11 as shown in F ig. III.

Also as shown in Fig. III, the lugs 16 are provided with verticallyelongated apertures 17 for passage of securing means in the form ofheaded screw bolts 18 which extend con- 7 tinuously throughpre-allocated horizontally drilled holes 19 in the tie 11 with a snugfit. Associated with the bolts 18 are washers 20 which are placedrespectively behind the bolt heads 21 and nuts22 engaging the threadedends of the bolt shanks. As shown in Fig. III, the washers 20 arebeveled at 23 to correspond with bevelled edges 2% at the bottoms of theapertures 17 in the depending corner lugs 16 of the tie plate. '22 aretightened, it is evident that the tie Thus, as the nuts plate 10 will bedrawn firmly down onto the top surface of the tie 11 due to thecooperative wedging action between the bevels 23, 24 of the washers 20and the lug apertures 17 For assurance of accuracy and also to save timein track construction, the holes 19 are drilled at the'factory or millincident to planing and shaping of the tie 11.

It therefore follows that the position of the rail plate 10 on the tieis definitely predetermined, and

that when once secured in place with'the bolts 18 tight, the rail platecannot possibly creep under the lateral thrust imparted to the rails bypassing trains, because of the snug fit of the bolts within the holes19. Shifting of the plate 10 crosswise of the tie 11 is on the otherhand precluded by virtue of the lap of the depending lugs 16 down overthe sides of the ties.

The described arrangement is further advantageous in that it permitsassembling and disassembling of the parts for the purpose of rail orother replacements without incurring injury to the ties.

In the modified embodiment of my tie plate shown in Figs. IV and V, oneend, preferably the inner end or that to the inside of the rail 13a, isplain, i. e. without the corner lugs of the previous embodiment.Instead, holes are drilled at 25, near the aforesaid plain end of theplate 10a for passage of lag screw bolts 26 downward into the tie. Theopposite end of the plate 10a is however constructed like the plateillustrated in Figs. I and II, and, in order to dispense with repetitivedescription, the same reference numerals are here employed, each withthe subscript a, to designate the corresponding parts. As before, thehole 19a for the horizontal or through bolt 18a is, in each instance,pre-allocated and drilled at the factory or mill and thus definitelypredetern'iines the position of the plate 16a on the ties incident tolaying of the track. In the modification, the lag bolts 26 are reliedupon to fasten the plain end of the plate 10a; while the through bolt18a serves, with the cooperation of the bevel washers 20a, to draw theopposite end of the plate firmly down onto the top face of the tieincident to tightening, and to thereafter hold the plate securelyagainst displacement by lateral thrust of the rail 13a. The merit of themodification is that it admits of somewhat cheaper manufacture than thefirst described embodiment.

Any suitable means, such as spikes extending down through openings inthe tie plates 1 and into the ties, may be employed in connection witheither of the two illustrated embodiments of my invention, to anchor thetrack rail.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination of a tie plate with depending corner lugs adapted tolap the side faces of the tie; securing means passing through aperturesin the tie plate lugs and extending horizontally into the tie; and meansoperative incident to tightening of the securing means to draw the tieplate firmly down onto the top surface of the tie.

2. The combination of a tie plate with depending corner lugs adapted tolap the side faces of the tie, the said lugs having bevel edgedapertures; headed securing screw bolts passing through said aperturesand horizontally into the tie; and bevel edged washers interposed behindthe heads of the said bolts and adapted to cooperate with the beveledges of the lug apertures to draw the tie plate firmly down intocontact with the top surface of the tie incident to tightening of thesaid bolts. 1

3. The combination of a tie plate with depending corner lugs adapted tolap the side firmly down into contact with the top surface of the tie.

4. A rail tie plate apertured at one end for passage of securing meansdown into the tie, and having corner lugs at the opposite end adapted tolap the side faces of the tie; securing means passing through aperturesin the lugs and extending horizontally into the tie; and means operativeincident to tightening of the securing means to draw the correspondingend of the tie plate firmly into contact with the top surface of thetie.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, this 28th day of March, 1931.

ROBERT FARIES.

